This invention pertains to marking flags on movable poles for marking points in golf courses, and more particularly to marking flags with improved attachments means to marking poles for identifying hole placement in the golf course greens.
Golf courses are require to use marking flags attached to movable upright poles to identify hole location in the greens. Most golf courses change the location of the hole in the green from day to day to rearrange the competitive location of the hole as well as to distribute the grass wear evenly over a season. Golf courses frequently utilize a color flag marking system to indicate depth of pin placement on the green. For instance, a red flag can be used for front pin placement, a white flag for middle placement, and a yellow flag for back placement. Marking poles used for marking pin placement are customarily removed from each hole upon a group of golfers reaching each green and putting. The marking flags have a rotatable connection with the upright poles to enable the marking flags to rotate freely with the wind to indicate wind direction to a distant golfer.
Current golf marking flags can be connected to an upright pole by attachment to a rotatable harness or swivel connector interconnecting the flag with the pole. The swivel connector ordinarily is a rigid wire connector having two or three rings rotatably mounted on the pole. By convention, a golf marking flag ordinarily is 14″ by 18″ or 20″ in size, where the 14″ dimension is the vertical attachment side adapted for interconnection to the upright pole. The longer dimension is the lateral top and bottom of the flag. Typically a flag may have three vertically spaced grommets or other openings in the attachment side of the flag for interconnection with the swivel connector. The flag can be tied off, clipped, hooked or otherwise attached to a three similarly spaced connectors on the swivel connector. The swivel connector ordinarily has two or three vertically spaced rings for rotatable attachment to the upright pole to enable rotation of the flag in response to wind direction. The one or two lower rings are sufficiently larger than the pole diameter to enable the rings to easily slip over the pole and provide operative free rotation of the flag about the pole. The uppermost ring on the swivel connector is a smaller diameter ring adapted to loosely fit over and rotate freely around an upwardly extending reduced diameter pin or threaded screw. The juncture of the smaller diameter upright extension with the larger diameter pole forms a laterally disposed radially orientated peripheral shoulder. The peripheral shoulder enables the upper small diameter ring to rotatably engage the upright extension while riding on the larger diameter shoulder. The peripheral shoulder provides vertical support to the swivel connector and in turn prevents the marking flag from falling off of the upright pole. A capping fitting or nut can then be tightened onto the upright pin or screw to prevent dislodgement of the upper small diameter ring from the pole. The capping fitting or nut merely caps the pin or screw but is maintained vertically spaced from the upper small diameter ring to enable free rotation of the small diameter ring below the capping fitting or nut. The swivel connectors are somewhat standardized to provide aligned attachment to similar three vertically spaced openings provided in the heavy hemming on the attachment side of each flag. Most golf marking flags are changed frequently to indicate front, center, or back placement of the pin in each green. Marking flags are cloth or canvas and need to be changed from time to time due to weathering deterioration. Sometimes flags are changed to provide logos on alternative marking flags for golf tournaments sponsored by specific sponsors.
Other swivel connectors consist of a plastic extruded hollow tube permanently secured to a marking flag. The plastic tube typically is glued, stapled or otherwise secured to the marking flag where the attaching edge of the marking flag can be tightly wrapped around and glued to the plastic tube. Most golf marking flags utilize a cylindrical tubular plastic extrusion with a radially outwardly extending elongated fin to facilitate gluing, stapling, sewing, or otherwise permanently securing the extruded tube within a folded attaching side of the marking flag. The top of the plastic tube is fitted with a plug or cap having narrow diameter central hole to enable rotation about the upwardly extending pin or screw. The plug or fitting itself rides on the laterally extending peripheral shoulder as previously described and facilitates rotation of the marking flag about the pole. Permanently securing the flag to the plastic tube prevents the marking flag from sliding down the upright pole independently of the tubular insert. A pinching cap or capping nut can cap the upright extension to prevent dislodgment of the plastic tube and marking flag from the pole while the flag is free to rotate 360 degrees.
The above described prior art swivel connectors and attaching flags require separate parts to produce entirely different style marking flags, which are time consuming and costly to assemble. Each flag configuration requires its own separate style swivel connector and separate parts. Neither the flags nor the connectors are interchangeable. Replacement flags must be designed for use with the specific swivel connection mechanism currently being used by the particular golf course. An old plastic insert marking flag assembly for instance must be completely discarded and a new plastic insert flag assembly must be acquired to change plastic tube marking flags. The rigid wire swivel connectors require a separate swivel connecting means to connect the marking flag to the pole, where the replacement flags must contain grommets for connection to the wire swivel connectors. Neither flag nor respective swivel connectors are interchangeable. Consequently, golf marking flag manufacturers must produce and supply a variety of swivel connecting parts which in turn must be assembled with a different swivel connecting means for attachment to the golf marking poles being used by a golf course.